Mainland China will need 5,260 commercial jets by 2031: Boeing

BEIJING -- China will need 5,260 commercial jets by 2031 with an estimated market value of some US$670 billion, according to a forecast Wednesday from U.S. aviation giant Boeing.

Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing's commercial airplane section, said the Seattle-based company had revised up its expectations from last year, when it predicted China would need 5,000 new planes by 2030.

Between 2012 and 2031, China will account for 15.5 percent of the 34,000 airliners to be sold around the world, according to Boeing's projection.

The manufacturer said it estimated the number of planes in operation around the world in the next two decades would double from nearly 20,000 to nearly 40,000.